Kingdom of Gwynedd

The name is believed to be a borrowing from early Irish (reflective of Irish settlement in the area in antiquity), either cognate with the Old Irish ethnic name , 'Irish people', from Primitive Irish 'forest people' or 'wild people' (from Proto-Indo-European 'wood, wilderness'), or alternatively Old Irish 'war band', from Proto-Celtic (from Proto-Indo-European 'chase, pursue, suppress'). Ptolemy in the 1st century marked the Llŷn Peninsula as the "Promontory of the Gangani", which is also a name he recorded in Ireland. It is theorised in the 1st century BC some of the Gangani tribe may have landed in what is now the Llŷn Peninsula and had driven out the Deceangli or the Ordovices tribe from that area either peacefully or by force. In the late and post-Roman eras, Irish from Leinster The 5th-century Cantiorix Inscription now in Penmachno church seems to be the earliest record of the name. It is in memory of a man named Cantiorix, and the Latin inscription is : "Cantiorix lies here. He was a citizen of Gwynedd and a cousin of Maglos the magistrate". The use of terms such as "citizen" and "magistrate" may be cited as evidence that Romano-British culture and institutions continued in Gwynedd long after the legions had withdrawn. ==History, background and familial descent==

The background involving the Kingdom of Gwynedd starts with the history of Wales. After the last ice age, Wales was settled during the prehistoric times. Neolithic sites have been discovered with tools made from flint, such as near Llanfaethlu, a long house excavated from 6000 years ago. Further examples of human activity in Gwynedd and Anglesey are involved in places such as Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey, which was built in phases starting 5000 years ago. Archeological findings from the Bronze Age, millennia ago, include findings such as the Arthog cauldron, a bronze cauldron from 1100 BC found near the Merioneth border, also named 'The Nannau Bucket' (similar to the Dowris bucket). And the Moel Hebog shield which is also 3,000 years old (similar to the Rhyd-y-gors example), and more recently the Trawsfynydd tankard, which was used to drink mead and beer between 100 BC and 75 AD. Examples of early settlement in Gwynedd are Bryn Eryr near Llansadwrn, Anglesey, now found at the St Fagans National Museum of History, and Garn Boduan, a Celtic hillfort on the Llŷn Peninsula. Iron Age forts were being adapted until after the Roman conquest of Britain, 'Castle of Buan' (Garn Boduan) in Llŷn was recorded as being fortified until the 7th century. During the Roman period, new roads and forts were constructed throughout the Roman empire and for centuries in Wales and England, Welsh examples include Caer Gybi (fort) on Anglesey, and Segontium in Caernarfon, Gwynedd. The establishment of Christianity in Wales also gave rise to a new era; the Romans founded towns with churches and installed governors. During the centuries of sub-Roman Britain, new political structures were established. The Brythonic Kingdom of Gwynedd was established in the 5th century, and it proved to be the most durable of these Brythonic states, surviving until the late 13th century. Noteworthy descendants from the Kingdom of Gwynedd include royalty such as Owain Glyndŵr, and the titular Prince of Wales, also the Salusbury family via Katheryn of Berain. The people mentioned can be associated with the Anglesey-based Tudors of Penmynydd family. The Tudors were ancestors and namesakes of the former English Royal House of Tudor; they were descended from the Welshman Maredudd ap Tudur, The Tudor dynasty became ancestors to the House of Stuart, and the Stuarts formed the European Jacobite family, they include direct descendants in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and other countries on the continent of Europe, and all around the world. == Gwynedd in the Early Middle Ages ==

Cunedda and his sons The region became known as Venedotia in Latin. The name was initially attributed to a specific Irish colony on Anglesey but broadened to refer to Irish settlers as a whole in North Wales by the 5th century. According to the 9th-century monk and chronicler Nennius, North Wales was left defenceless by the Roman withdrawal and subject to increasing raids by marauders from the Isle of Man and Ireland, a situation which led Cunedda, his sons and their entourage, to migrate in the mid-5th century from Manaw Gododdin (now Clackmannanshire) to settle and defend North Wales against the raiders and bring the region within Romano-British control. Whether they were invited to keep out the invaders or were raiders themselves, however, is unknown. According to Professor John Davies, "[T]here is a determinedly Brythonic, and indeed Roman, air to early Gwynedd." was regarded as an able military leader, impetuous and generous. He is attributed in some old stories as hosting the first Eisteddfod, and he is also one of five Celtic British kings castigated for their sins by the contemporary Christian writer Gildas (who referred to him as Maglocunus, meaning 'Prince-Hound' in Brittonic), written in the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. Maelgwn was curiously described as "the dragon of the island" by Gildas which was possibly a title, but explicitly as the most powerful of the five named British kings. "[Y]ou the last I write of but the first and greatest in evil, more than many in ability but also in malice, more generous in giving but also more liberal in sin, strong in war but stronger to destroy your soul." Maelgwn eventually died from the plague in 547, but his death was then avenged by his relatives, who ravaged the coast of Arfon. Rhun counter-attacked and exacted the same penalty on the lands of his foes in what is now South and Central Scotland. The long distances these armies travelled suggests they were moving across the Irish Sea, but, because almost all of what is now northern England was at this point (c. 550) under Brittonic rule, it is possible that his army marched to Strathclyde overland. Rhun returned to Gwynedd, and the rest of his reign was for the majority uneventful until the relatives of Elidir renewed their aggressions against Rhun who was killed in the conflict. He was succeeded by his son or in some accounts nephew Beli ap Rhun in c. 586. Among the most powerful of the early kings was Cadwallon ap Cadfan (c. 624 – 634), grandson of Iago ap Beli. He became engaged in an initially disastrous campaign against Northumbria where following a series of epic defeats he was confined first to Anglesey, and then just to Puffin Island, before being forced into exile across the Irish Sea to Dublin, – a place which would come to host many royal refugees from Gwynedd. All must have seemed lost but Cadwallon () raised an enormous army and after a brief time in Guernsey he invaded Dumnonia, relieved the West Welsh who were suffering a Mercian invasion and forced the pagan Penda of Mercia into an alliance against Northumbria. With new vigour Cadwallon returned to his Northumbrian foes, defeated their armies and slew a series of their kings. In this furious campaign, his armies devastated Northumbria, captured and sacked York in 633 and briefly controlled the kingdom. Despite the war and 14 battles undertaken by the allied forces of Gwynedd and Mercia against Northumbria, of which the chief one was the Battle of Cefn Digoll in 632, an alliance was concluded when Cadwallon married Alcfritha, daughter of Pybba of Mercia. However, the effect of these tumultuous events would come to be short-lived, for he died in battle in 634 close to Hadrian's Wall, at the Battle of Heavenfield. The Tudors of Penmynydd and Henry VII of England in particular claimed descent from Cadwaladr in the "twenty-second degree". These raids no doubt had a seriously debilitating effect on the country but fortunately for Gwynedd, the victims of the Vikings were not confined to Wales. The House of Cunedda – as the direct descendants of Cunedda are known – eventually expired in the male line in 825 upon the death of Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog and, as John Edward Lloyd put it, "a stranger possessed the throne of Gwynedd." This "stranger" who became the next King of Gwynedd was Merfyn "Frych" (Merfyn "the Freckled"). Merfyn married Nest ferch Cadell, the sister or daughter of Cyngen ap Cadell, the King of Powys of the Gwertherion dynasty, and founded the House of Aberffraw, named after his principal court on Anglesey. No written records are preserved from the Britons of southern Scotland and northern England and it is very likely that Merfyn Frych brought many of these legends as well as his pedigree with him when he came to north Wales. It appears most probable that it was at Merfyn's court that all the lore of the north was collected and written down during his reign and that of his son. Rhodri the Great (844–878), son of Merfyn Frych and Nest ferch Cadell, was able to add the Powys to his realm after its king (his maternal uncle) died on a pilgrimage to Rome in 855. Later, he married Angharad ferch Meurig, the sister of King Gwgon of Seisyllwg. When Gwgon drowned without an heir in 872, Rhodri became a steward over the kingdom and was able to install his son, Cadell ap Rhodri, as a subject king. Thus, he became the first ruler since the days of Cunedda to control the greater part of Wales. From the successes of Rhodri and the seniority of Anarawd among his sons the Aberffraw family claimed primacy over all other Welsh lords including the powerful kings of Powys and Deheubarth. the family asserted its rights as the senior line of descendants from Rhodri the Great who had conquered most of Wales during his lifetime. Gruffudd ap Cynan's biography was first written in Latin and intended for a wider audience outside Wales. The significance of this claim was that the Aberffraw family owed nothing to the English king for its position in Wales and that they held authority in Wales "by absolute right through descent," wrote historian John Davies. Shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 the Normans began to exert pressure on the eastern border of Gwynedd. They were helped by internal strife following the killing of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn in 1075 by his second cousin Rhys ap Owain King of Deheubarth. Another relative of Bleddyn's Trahaearn ap Caradog seized the throne but was soon challenged by Gruffudd ap Cynan, the exiled grandson of Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig who had been living in the Norse–Gael stronghold of Dublin. In 1081 Trahaearn was killed by Gruffudd in battle and the ancient line of Rhodri Mawr was restored. == Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages ==

Gruffudd ap Cynan The Aberffraw dynasty suffered various depositions by rivals in Deheubarth, Powys, and England in the 10th and 11th centuries. Gruffudd ap Cynan (c. 1055–1137), Shortly after the Battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081, Gruffudd was lured into a trap with the promise of an alliance but seized by Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, in an ambush near Corwen. Additionally, Hervey routinely excommunicated parishioners who he perceived as challenging his spiritual and temporal authority. Owain ap Edwin transferred his allegiance to Chester following the defeat of his ally Trahaearn ap Caradog in 1081, a move which earned him the epithet Bradwr "the Traitor" (), among the Welsh. In the melee which followed Henry II might have been slain had not Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford, rescued the king. Henry II retreated and made his way back to his main army, by now slowly advancing towards Rhuddlan. Not wishing to engage the Norman army directly, Owain repositioned himself first at St. Asaph, then further west, clearing the road for Henry II to enter into Rhuddlan "ingloriously". In a later letter to the Byzantine emperor, Henry probably recalled these experiences when he wrote, "A people called Welsh, so bold and ferocious that, when unarmed, they do not fear to encounter an armed force, being ready to shed their blood in defence of their country, and to sacrifice their lives for renown." The naval expedition was led by Henry II's maternal uncle (Empress Matilda's half-brother), Henry FitzRoy; and when they landed on Môn, Henry FitzRoy had the churches of Llanbedr Goch and Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf torched. During the night the men of Môn gathered together, and the next morning fought and defeated the Norman army, with Henry FitzRoy falling under a shower of lances. The defeat of his navy and his own military difficulties had convinced Henry II that he had "gone as far as was practical that year" in his effort to subject Owain, and the King offered terms. Owain I of Gwynedd, "ever prudent and sagacious", recognised that he needed time to further consolidate power, and agreed to the terms. Owain was to render homage and fealty to the King, and resign Tegeingl and Rhuddlan to Chester, and restore Cadwaladr to his possessions in Gwynedd. The death of Madog ap Meredudd of Powys in 1160 opened an opportunity for Owain I of Gwynedd to further press Gwynedd's influence at the expense of Powys. However, Owain continued to further Gwynedd's expansion without rousing the English crown, maintaining his 'prudent policy' of Quieta non-movere (translated from Latin - do not move settled things). It was a policy of outward conciliation while masking his own consolidation of authority. To further demonstrate his goodwill, in 1160 Owain handed over to the English crown the fugitive Einion Clud. By 1162 Owain was in possession of the Powys cantref of Cyfeiliog, and its castle, Tafolwern; and ravaged another Powys cantref, Arwystli, slaying its lord, Hywel ab Ieuaf. Owain's strategy was in sharp contrast to Rhys ap Gruffudd, King of Deheubarth, who in 1162 rose in open revolt against the Normans in south Wales, drawing Henry II back to England from the continent. In 1163 Henry II quarrelled with Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, causing growing divisions between the king's supporters and the archbishop's supporters. With discontent mounting in England, Owain of Gwynedd joined with Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth in a second grand Welsh revolt against Henry II. England's king, who only the prior year had pardoned Rhys ap Gruffudd for his 1162 revolt, assembled a vast host against the allied Welsh, with troops drawn from all over the Angevin empire assembling in Shrewsbury, and with the Norse of Dublin paid to harass the Welsh coast. While his army gathered on the Welsh frontier, Henry II left for the continent to negotiate a truce with France and Flanders to not disturb his peace while campaigning in Wales. However, when Henry II returned to England he found that the war had already begun, with Owain's son Dafydd raiding Angevin positions in Tegeingl, exposing the castles of Rhuddlan and Basingwerk to "serious dangers", wrote Lloyd. Henry II rushed to north Wales for a few days to shore up defences there, before returning to his main army now gathering in Oswestry. The vast host gathered before the allied Welsh principalities represented the largest army yet assembled for their conquest, a circumstance which further drew the Welsh allies into a closer confederacy, wrote Lloyd. With Owain I of Gwynedd the overall battle commander, and with his brother Cadwaladr as his second, Owain assembled the Welsh host at Corwen in the vale of Edeyrion where he could best resist Henry II's advance. The Angevin army advanced from Oswestry into Wales crossing the mountains towards Mur Castell and found itself in the thick forest of the Ceiriog Valley where they were forced into a narrow thin line. Owain I had positioned a band of skirmishers in the thick woods overlooking the pass, which harassed the exposed army from a secured position. Henry II ordered the clearing of the woods on either side to widen the passage through the valley and to lessen the exposure of his army. The road his army travelled later became known as the Ffordd y Saeson, the English Road, and leads through heath and bog towards the Dee. In a dry summer the moors may have been passable, but "on this occasion the skies put on their most wintry aspect; and the rain fell in torrents [...] flooding the mountain meadows" until the great Angevin encampment became a "morass," wrote Lloyd. In the face of "hurricane" force of wind and rain, diminishing provisions and an exposed supply line stretching through a hostile country subject to enemy raids, and with a demoralised army, Henry II was forced into a complete retreat without even a semblance of a victory. In frustration, Henry II had twenty-two Welsh hostages mutilated; the sons of Owain's supporters and allies, including two of Owain's own sons. In addition to his failed campaign in Wales, Henry's mercenary Norse navy, which he had hired to harass the Welsh coast, turned out to be too few for use and were disbanded without engagement. Henry II's Welsh campaign was a complete failure, with the king abandoning all plans for the conquest of Wales, returning to his court in Anjou and not returning to England for another four years. Lloyd wrote: It is true that [Henry II] did not cross swords with [Owain I], but the elements had done their work for [the Welsh]; the stars in their courses had fought against the pride of England and humbled it to the very dust. To conquer a land which was defended, not merely by the arms of its valiant and audacious sons, but also by tangled woods and impassable bogs, by piercing winds and pitiless storms of rain, seemed a hopeless task, and Henry resolved to no longer attempt it. Owain expanded his international diplomatic offensive against Henry II by sending an embassy to Louis VII of France in 1168, led by Arthur of Bardsey, Bishop of Bangor (1166–1177), who was charged with negotiating a joint alliance against Henry II. With Henry II distracted by his widening quarrel with Thomas Becket, Owain's army recovered Tegeingl for Gwynedd by 1169. Lloyd quotes: "The praises so repeatedly accorded to his many personal qualities by contemporary poets, and indeed by several public figures who could not have been predisposed in his favour, have so genuine a tone about them that the progressive trends in all the arts of peace and war discerned in 12th century Wales, it must be concluded, were in large measure due to the fostering genius of ' Owain the Great.'" In his later reign Owain I was styled princeps Wallensium, Latin for the Prince of the Welsh, a title of substance given his leadership of the Welsh and victory against the English king, wrote historian Dr. John Davies. Additionally, Owain commissioned the Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, the biography of his father in which Owain firmly asserted his primacy over other Welsh rulers by "absolute right through descent" from Rhodri the Great, according to Davies. Owain I was the eldest male descendant of Rhodri the Great through paternal descent. The adoption of the title prince (Latin princeps, Welsh tywysog), rather than the king (Latin rex, Welsh brenin), did not mean a diminution in status, according to Davies. The use of the title prince was a recognition of the ruler of Gwynedd in relation to the wider international feudal world. The princes of Gwynedd exercised greater status and prestige than the earls, counts, and dukes of the Angevin empire, suggesting a similar status as that of the King of Scots, himself nominally a vassal of the King of England, argued Davies. As Welsh society became further influenced by feudal Europe, the princes of Gwynedd would in turn use feudalism to strengthen their own authority over lesser Welsh lords, a "two-edged sword" for the King of England, wrote Davies. Though Gwynedd's princes recognised the de jure suzerainty of the King of England, there remained well-established Welsh law separate from English law, and were independent de facto, wrote Davies. Civil war, usurpation 11701195, and the Prince of Wales Welsh manuscripts and Annals state the events which unfolded during the end of the 12th century. This story of the Royal court of Gwynedd suffering an uprising stems from the Norman invasion of Wales a century prior to the civil strife of Owain Gwynedd and his immediate family. The internal wranglings for the crown of Gwynedd began with two sons, Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd and Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, who were illegitimate, by Owain's Irish wife Pyfog. Owain and his father, Gruffudd ap Cynan, both had a Norse-Irish connection in their immediate family and would have used this allegiance to their advantage, especially Gruffudd who hired and army fleets of ships to invade North Wales himself. In 1146, Hywel and Cadell ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth had combined their forces to battle against invading Normans who had built castles in west Wales, they took Carmarthen, Llanstephan, and Wiston castles. Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd duly succeeded his father for a short-lived term during 1170. Due to the Norman invasion of Wales, the realm was in civil war, Princess-Dowager (wife of Owain Gwynedd) Cristin verch Goronwy who promoted her own son Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (Dafydd I/ David I) as Prince of Gwynedd ahead of Hywel and any other senior son of Owain Gwynedd. Dafydd I made his move, and within a few months of his succession, Hywel was overthrown and killed at the Battle of Pentraeth in 1171. Due to splinter factions, the Kingdom's royal family began to move away from Gwynedd, it is Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd (died after 1174 strife) who appeared to have gained Anglesey, whilst the sons of Cynan held the cantrefs of Meirionnydd, Eifionydd and Ardudwy between them . Dayfdd I was of Welsh royal stock, although his parents' union wasn't recognised by the church, and he was deemed illegitimate (his parents Owain and Cristin were first cousins), he would still marry royalty, his wife being the half sister of Henry II. As a Prince, he made the most of his position as a son of Owain Gwynedd, and it was Dafydd I who waged a war on his brothers when he won the Crown at the battle of Pentraeth. Dafydd I, King of Gwynedd was his title, and his merciless rule continued when he used his powers to harass his brothers into leaving Gwynedd, at one stage in 1173 Dafydd I imprisoned all of his siblings except for Madoc and Maelgwn. It was Madoc (also known as Madog ab Owain Gwynedd) who after his father's death is claimed to have set sail across the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America. After 3 years of Maelgwn possessing Anglesey he jailed him too. Eventually, Dafydd I was himself imprisoned by the future Prince of Wales Llywelyn the Great, that was after losing the Battle of Aberconwy against an alliance of Rhodri ab Owain, and the sons of Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd. The following year he expelled all his remaining family rivals and made himself master of all Gwynedd and in 1175, Dafydd I imprisoned his brother Rhodri. During a revolt in 1173, Dafydd I adhered to Henry II as an ally, and it was agreed that Dafydd I would marry Emma of Anjou, who was Henry's half-sister, and would receive the manor of Ellesmere as dowry. All this was done, as the Brut y Tywysogion explained, "because [Dafydd] thought he could hold his territory in peace thereby", but it proved insufficient. Before the end of 1175 Rhodri had escaped from captivity and gathered sufficient support to drive Dafydd I from the Royal household of Aberffraw, there appears to be no activity from Dafydd I for almost 20 years after 1175, until then the final battle at Aberconwy in 1197. Dafydd I may not have inherited the leadership abilities of his father but he had sufficient diplomatic qualities remaining to ensure he could live at peace with his neighbours. This appears to be the one quality recognised by his contemporaries as he was described by Giraldus Cambrensis as a man who showed "good faith and credit by observing a strict neutrality between the Welsh and English". His brother Rhodri had a more eventful time and fell out with the descendants of Cynan. They acted against Rhodri in 1190 and drove him out of Gwynedd altogether. Rhodri fled to the safety of the Isle of Man only to be briefly reinstated in 1193 with the assistance of Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles, and then driven out once more at the beginning of 1194, sharing the humiliation of his brother Dafydd ab Owain. Dafydd Ist had a nemesis in his nephew Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, who was born most likely in the year 1173 and therefore only a child when all these events played out. Llywelyn's father Iorwerth Drwyndwn had been involved in the early stages of the dynastic struggles and most likely died sometime around 1174, during the same time as the usurpation of Dafydd I. As the century drew to a close Llywelyn became a young man and decided to stake his claim to power in Gwynedd. He conspired with his cousins Gruffudd and Maredudd and his uncle Rhodri and in the year 1194 they all united against Dafydd I. Llywelyn fought battles throughout Wales, giving him the moniker 'The great' as his ancestor Owain Gwynedd had attained. Having made alliances in his birth county of Powys and the county of the origins of his family Gwynedd, in north Wales, the stage was set for Llywelyn to dominate in battle and make alliances with the Crown of England, similar to his predecessor Dafydd I. Llywelyn married Joan, Lady of Wales, the daughter of John, King of England. ==Prince of Wales (de facto)==

Llywelyn I, the Great Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (117311 April 1240), later known as Llywelyn the Great (Llywelyn I), The Royal palace consisted of positions similar to Royal Households of the United Kingdom used today in England. Llywelyn followed the laws of Hywel Dda and attempted a succession process using the Welsh gavelkind custom of choosing an heir. Llywelyn promoted his younger son Dafydd II, and he customised the process of designating an heir to his own fruition by giving his eldest son Gruffudd lands to rule. Dafydd II was named heir with the support of King Henry III of England, during 1238 a Welsh Royal council of Princes was held at Strata Florida Abbey in honour of the heir of Gwynedd. Llywelyn in 1239 suffered a stroke and retired from active work in the Welsh government, he died only a year later in 1240. Succession would continue with a new King of England, Edward I would later acquire the title of the Prince of Wales. The Treaty of Aberconwy was signed in 1277 by Llywelyn II, it was a formal agreement to hand over the power Gwynedd he had accumulated throughout Wales, and the new House of Plantagenet was of French, Norman origins. However Llywelyn's brother Dafydd III still had different ideas, it was he who provoked the incident by attacking Hawarden castle on Palm Sunday in 1282. Later on in November 1282 the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham, visited North Wales to mediate any potential conflict between sovereigns. Prince Llywelyn II was offered a financial incentive, and an English estate for his family, only if he were to surrender Gwynedd's territory to Edward. Llywelyn II rejected the offer. The next month, on 11 December 1282, after not being recognised Llywelyn was killed in an ambush. His head sent to London, his body interred to Abbeycwmhir. King Edward I decreed, in , and was caught by "men of his own tongue". The last Royal family of Wales were imprisoned, and Dafydd III was executed by hanging in Shrewsbury for treason, his body was dismembered and he suffered same fate as his brother, Llywelyn II with his head put on a pole for display at the Tower of London, the bard Bleddyn Fardd made his elegy. After the capture of the last true Royal family of Gwynedd, the Princes, including Llywelyn ap Dafydd were imprisoned in Bristol Castle by the English Crown, and daughters became Nuns in Sempringham and other monasteries. ==End of independence==

Following the death of Llywelyn II in 1282, and the execution of his brother Dafydd III the following year, eight centuries of independent rule by the House of Gwynedd came to an end, and the kingdom, which had long been one of the final holdouts to total English domination of Wales, was annexed to England. The remaining important members of the ruling house were all arrested and imprisoned for the remainder of their lives. The Pura Walia was the new definition for the Welsh marshland. Pura Wallia was effectively the new counties which had been Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and Marchia Wallie were defined through division of lands still held by the Welsh people and the Norman castles built in the Marchia Wallie. The Pura Walia continued to be within a nominal Principality of Wales ruled by the Council of Wales at Ludlow as a part of the English crown. There were many Gwynedd-based rebellions after 1284 with varying degrees of success with most being led by peripheral members of the old royal house. In particular the rebellions of Prince Madoc in 1294, The Welsh Marches would be merged with the principality in 1534 under the Council of Wales and the Marches until all separate governance for Wales. The penal system was eventually abolished, and as an administrative entity, the administrative entity the Marches of Wales was abolished by the joint reigns of King William III of England and Mary II of England (monarchs of England and Scotland combined) in 1689. ==Military==

According to Sir John Edward Lloyd, the challenges of campaigning in Wales were exposed during the 20-year Norman invasion. If a defender could bar any road, control any river-crossing or mountain pass, and control the coastline around Wales, then the risks of extended campaigning in Wales were too great. ==Administration==

is the traditional border between upper and lower Gwynedd In early times Gwynedd (or Venedotia) may have been ruled from Chester, which is shown in the subsidiary title of the current Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester. This site was destroyed by lightning in 812, rebuilt and destroyed again by Saxons in 822. Afterwards Aberffraw on Anglesey became the principal power base, with exceptions such as Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's court at Rhuddlan. However, as the English fleet became more powerful and particularly after the Norman colonisation of Ireland began it became indefensible and from about 1200 until 1283, at Abergwyngregyn or simply called just "Aber" (its anglicised shortened form adopted by the Crown of England after the conquest) was the new family home of the 'Lord of Snowdown' on the banks of the menai Strait. Joan, Lady of Wales, died there in 1237; Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1246; Eleanor de Montfort, Lady of Wales, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales ("Tywysog Cymru" in modern Welsh), on 19 June 1282, giving birth to a daughter, Gwenllian. The royal home was occupied and expropriated by the English Crown in early 1283. The traditional sphere of Aberffraw's influence in north Wales included the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) as their early seat of authority, and Gwynedd Uwch Conwy (Gwynedd above the Conwy, or upper Gwynedd), and the Perfeddwlad (the Middle Country) also known as Gwynedd Is Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower Gwynedd). Additional lands were acquired through vassalage or conquest, and by regaining lands lost to Marcher lords, particularly that of Ceredigion, Powys Fadog, and Powys Wenwynwyn. However, these areas were always considered an addition to Gwynedd, never part of it. Gwynedd was traditionally divided into using nature as borders, the rivers Conwy and Dee were used to define lands in relation to the counties. Anglesey () Commote of Anglesey Upper Gwynedd, Conwy Gwynedd above the Conwy, or upper Gwynedd Commote of Arllechwedd Arfon Commote Dunoding Commote Commote of Llyn Meirionnydd Commote Lower Gwynedd, Conwy Also known as Perfeddwlad, or "the Middle Country" or Gwynedd Is Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower Gwynedd) • Cantref Tegeingl: • Cwnsyllt • Prestatyn • Rhuddlan • Dyffryn Clwyd: • Colion • Llannerch • Dogfeiling • Rhufoniog • Ceinmeirch • Uwch Aled • Is Aled • Cantref Rhos • Uwch Dulas • Is Dulas • Y Creuddyn == Legacy ==

Following Edward's conquest, the lands of Gwynedd proper were divided among the English counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Merionethshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. The modern principal area of Gwynedd established by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 no longer includes Anglesey. ==See also==

Books Primary sources • • • • • • • • • – • • • • • • • • • • • Secondary sources • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Dictionary of Welsh biography sources • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Wiki source – Dictionary of National Biography and Encyclopædia • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ==External links==